Why you should pay an extra 1p at the till

by John Fitzsimons on 27 November 2011  |  18 comments
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By rounding up your bill, you can make a huge difference to a number of different charities, thanks to Pennies.

I had a takeaway pizza for dinner the other night. Very indulgent for a Monday night, I know. But I’d like to think that by doing so I actually did some good in the world (and not just to the benefit of shareholders in Domino’s Pizza).

You see, when you come to pay on the Domino’s website, a little box appears underneath your total cost summary asking if you would like to round up your bill. So rather than pay £16.95, pay £17 for example. Those extra few pennies are then donated to Domino’s Pizza’s two charities of choice.

I did just that.

Pennies make up pounds

It’s all the brainchild of a brilliant outfit called, appropriately enough, Pennies. We live in a world where payments are now dominated by credit and debit cards rather than cash, and charity collection boxes are suffering. However, by teaming up with Pennies, retailers are giving customers who want to help charities a new way of doing so.

Pennies has been in operation for a year now, and has partnered with Domino’s Pizza, Travelodge, Zizzi, The Entertainer and the Rugby Football Union. Each retailer gets to pick the charity the donations go to, and so far more than £250,000 has been raised.

From next year a whole clutch of new firms will also be signing up, including Screwfix, Shelter and GO Outdoors. A new technology partnership with Cardsave will also allow small, regional businesses to take part.

Pass on pennies

To give you an idea of how it works, Pennies has set up a game on Facebook, where you can click to pass on pennies to Action for Children, Age UK or Marie Curie Cancer Care (or even all three). Best of all, the pennies you choose to pass on will be matched, so those charities will seriously benefit from a few seconds of your time.

It seems bizarre, but despite these tough times, people in the UK clearly still want to give to those who are worse off. Just last week Children in Need raised a new record amount. And honestly, it makes very little difference to most of us whether we pay £9.99 or £10 for a pizza.

What’s more, because the retailer gets to choose which charity receives its donations, charities big and small are benefitting.

Pennies is asking if 2012 will be the year of the micro-donation. I certainly hope it is.

To find out more, check out the Pennies website. Or, to take part in the Facebook game, follow this link.